There are a lot of people who identify as bisexual and who insist that their natural inclination is to be romantically and/or sexually attracted to both sexes.

Question: I’m a man who likes looking at men and seeing men have sex with each other. However, I also like seeing women do the same. I know I like having sex with women but I want to know if having sex with a guy would be something I’d like, too. Is there a test to tell whether I am bisexual or not?

Although many people have their own theories and ideas related to sexual orientation, there is no true “test” that one can take to determine whether they are bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual or some other evolving identity. Not to mention, not everyone likes to label their sexual orientation with these commonly used terms.

Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s Research

Dr. Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues, in their 1948 book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, wrote about the possibility that people may be quite fluid in their sexuality. Over the course of a person’s life, their sexual fantasies, attractions and behaviors may shift at different points.

Dr. Kinsey also wrote about the possibility that more people would express an interest in both women and men if there weren’t so many societal taboos around being sexual with members of one’s own sex.

The Trouble With Labels

Even now, there is some stigma around people who label themselves as “bisexual”. Some people believe that labeling oneself as bisexual is almost a cop-out – and that it’s just a transition period before a person comes out as gay or lesbian. Other people strongly disagree with this idea and are more accepting of the range of ways in which people experience their sexuality.

After all, there are quite a lot of people who identify as bisexual and who insist that their natural inclination is to be romantically and/or sexually attracted to both women and men. Research supports the idea that both men and women can be attracted to people of both sexes though it remains unclear what influences a person to be attracted mostly to people of their same sex, another sex or to both sexes.

Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH is a professor in the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion (School of Public Health), and a research fellow at The Kinsey Institute. She has been writing the Kinsey Confidential Q&A since 2003. Additionally, Dr. Herbenick is an AASECT-certified sexuality educator and current president (2016-present) of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She is the author of several books about sex and love.

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Dr. Alfred Kinsey felt that there was fluidity in human sexuality and that more people would be attracted to both sexes if society was more accepting and embracing of the diversity of human sexual attraction, interest and behavior.